OPW: Office of Public Works
Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí
Sustainable Design & Universal Access
- The OPW SD+UA Workgroup (Workgroup on Sustainable Design and Universal Access) continued to research best practice, methods and standards for Architectural Services and advised on the CPD Programme.
- The Green Design Audit Checklist, a self-auditing tool, is available on the intranet to assist the design process at various stages.
- The Accessibility Audit Checklist is available on the OPW intranet site to assist designers audit design to comply with the current statutory building regulations. It has been supplemented by Best Practice Accessibility Auditing Checklist for workplaces as part of the Decentralisation Output Specification
- The OPW currently have twenty-five qualified access auditors to assist in auditing of buildings within the State property portfolio following a request from a Government Department.
- During 2006 the SD+UA Workgroup provided assistance and advice in the development of the generic output specification to be used in the Government Decentralisation Programme and other PPP projects.
- Members of the SD + UA represented the OPW on the RIAI sustainability Task Force and the Accessibility Task force.
The OPW is a project partner to IBEAM and the SD + UA Group participates on the Industry Committee. The IBEAM project was established to research and develop a methodology for an Irish Building Environmental Assessment Tool and to explore possible innovations in the method of application and implementation specific to the Irish market and building sector.